“10 Things I Hate About You” promises hot “girl-on-girl action”

There were so many things to love about the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You. In the same way Amy Heckerling turned Jane Austen’sEmma into the masterpiece that is Clueless, Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith turned Shakespeare’sTaming of the Shrew into 10 Things.

To start with, Julia Stiles is a babe. I’m sad to not have seen her in anything good lately, but at least I have fond memories of her pouty-face wearing overalls.

Then we had Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt working side by side to ultimately win the affections of the Stratford sisters. Heath was and Joseph still is worthy of my lesbian attraction.

I can’t say it was a surprise to hear that this movie was being made into a TV show — most things are being reduced, reused and recycled these days. I will be surprised if this ends up being any good.

The folks over at E! seem overly-amped about the upcoming ABC Family program and had this to say:

Jen here: I don’t want to speak for my compatriots, but the Valley girl in me must say this: OMG, you guys, it’s so awesome. 10 Thing I Hate About You the TV show is hella funny (thanks to the likes of original movie castmember Larry Miller, who played/plays the dad), the show runner talks openly about being inspired by teen TV greats Buffy the Vampire Slayer and My So-Called Life, and Ethan Peck (who plays Patrick Verona, the Heath Ledger part) is at the beginning of a superstar arc that will knock us all back like we were hit with the blast wave of an asteroid hitting Earth.

Watch this show so you can say you knew him when. Meanwhile, check out the promo music video now (because “I Want You to Want Me” is never not good tunes) and then swing back here after the July 7 premiere for more scoop on the season-one kisses, including some hot girl-on-girl action.

Yes, they said “hot girl-on-girl action.” When that’s touted in advance, it rarely turns out well.

This of course prompted me to think of the 2 Things I Hate and 2 Things I Like about The Idea of The “10 Things I Hate About You” TV Show.

Hate: How long can the dynamic of the characters really last as a television show? The movie worked because it doesn’t take too long for Patrick and Kat to get together. How many seasons of the TV show will it take for their eventual coupling to take place?

Hate: OK, so the most obviously annoying part of E!’s description comes from the “hot girl-on-girl action” comment. Somehow I’m not too confident in ABC Family giving us some real “hot” anything, much less a hot lesbian scene. I’m very curious to see how they play this out. Will there actually be a gal pal storyline that is treated with respect? Or (more likely the case) will there be a flexo-sexual storyline or (almost worse) the stereotypically written aggressive, angsty lesbian character?

Like: Lary Miller reprising his role as Kat and Bianca’s dad. You may not know the name but Larry Miller is always funny. He’s one of the recurring characters in all of Christopher Guest’s movies (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show (and more, but those are really the only two you need to watch).

Like: Lindsey Shaw as lead shrew, Kat Stratford. Hot stuff alert! Sure, I just looked up her age on IMDB to make sure I’m not a perv and it turns out I am totally a perv, but I’m ok with it. She’s got the look and the attitude to take over where Julia Stiles left off.

So, let’s be honest here, I’m not going to be watching this show; I’m not even sure if I have the ABC Family channel. I have young siblings though, and I’d like to think they will be given a show with some characters that will do both the original story, and their older gay sister some justice.

What do you think? Will you be watching this show when it premieres in July?